Publisher’s Note: If you are reading this from the US, the UK, or the EU, it is easy to think that Asian trade is all about us, on one end or the other. Even as China grows, Germany, the UK, and the US consider Asia in a self-centric trading frame.

In this issue, Asia Editor Scott Foster brings us a clear picture of how Japan and other Asian nations are building new partnerships and programs around the hottest technology platforms in the world (smartphones) and the newest markets (Myanmar).

Will Abe win his just-announced snap election this month? And what should we expect if he doesn’t? How do Japan and South Korea fare as their currency wars continue? Whose model will prosper, at a time when the two models look almost identical?

As always, our Asia Letter provides information SNS members will need to make strategic decisions about their own plans and products in the coming year. – mra.